Model No: 50028
Released: February 1994
Design: Dennis Nordman
Art: Doug Watson, Linda Deal
Software: Ted Estes, Bill Grupp
Sound: Jon Hey
Music: Jon Hey

Williams acquired a license to produce a pinball machine based on the film. The game was released in 1994.

Cabinet Features
One of the unique features of the game was that there were two trigger handles mounted on the cabinet, above the flipper buttons. The player can use the flipper buttons to control the flippers, or can use the trigger buttons on the bottom of the trigger handles. As an incentive for players to play with the trigger handles, a "trigger combo" bonus was added to the end of ball bonus. A player can score a trigger combo by making any combination shot by using the trigger handles to flip the ball up the appropriate ramps. The trigger handles also control the Cryo Claw up in the top left corner of the playfield.

Playfield description
A top-down shot of the playfield can be seen at http://www.lysator.liu.se/pinball/IPD/image.cgi?id=662&if=playfield.gif.

Flippers: Two at the bottom center of the playfield and a third on the left side, near the left loop.
Ramps: One ramp near the left flipper which feeds to the left inlane. A ramp in the center which feeds to the saucer above the left inlane switch. This ramp shot can be made by using the upper left flipper. One ramp to the right which feeds to the right inlane, or to the Cryo Claw if the diverter switch is open.
Slingshots: Two in their usual positions on the playfield.
Sinkholes: One above the MTL rollovers in the top-right corner, and a second above the center ramp. Balls ejected from the top sinkhole go to the MTL rollovers. Balls ejected from the center sinkhole are served to the right inlane.
Rollover lanes: MTL rollovers in the top-right corner of the playfield. Completing MTL advances the bonus multiplier (maximum of 5x). Other rollover lanes are located on both the left and right orbits, left and right inlanes, and left and right drains.
Standup targets: Five scattered across the center of the playfield. Hitting a lit standup target awards (1 + number of lit targets previously hit) million. This award maxes out at 20 million. Completing a set of standup targets once will light Freeze Ball at the right inlane.
Cryo Claw: Located in the left corner. The Cryo Claw is accessed by a ramp shot up the right ramp while the diverter is open. At the Cryo Claw, the player can use the trigger handles to drop the ball on to one of five different awards.

Multiball modes
Fortress Multiball: Requires one ball frozen. Additional frozen balls will increase the number of balls ejected into play. Score jackpots by hitting the shots that are lit, one at a time. Super Jackpot is lit at the right ramp after three jackpots have been collected. Hitting yellow standup targets increase jackpot values
Museum Multiball: Lights all seven jackpot shots. Super Jackpot is lit at right ramp once all jackpots are collected. Sending a ball into the bumpers will increase the jackpot value. Requires two frozen balls to start.
Wasteland Multiball: Lit after three freezes. Plays a lot like Fortress Multiball, but additional jackpots may be lit.
Cryo Prison Multiball: Lit after four balls are frozen. Lights the Super Jackpot. All other jackpot shots add points to the Super Jackpot. After the Super Jackpot is collected, X number of jackpot shots must be made to relight the Super Jackpot.

Easter Eggs and cheats within the game
  • All combos made by using the triggers as flipper buttons award an additional 1 million (listed as "Trigger Combos") at the end of ball bonus.
  • Pressing both thumb buttons on the handles during a multiball awards the next Jackpot as a "Secret Jackpot" (not including super jackpots).
  • Pressing both thumb buttons when you get "Big Points/1million" from the top lock yields an "Eat at Joe's" graphic and 5 million points.
  • Pressing both thumb buttons *and* both triggers when you get "Big points/1million" from the top lock yields "WAG" for 10 million points.
  • Pressing both thumb buttons right after the third Capture Simon shot (when you've captured him) yields a 10 million capture bonus.
  • Pressing both thumb buttons right after hitting the second Retina Scan yields a great graphic of the prison warden getting his eye poked out and used for the retina scan ... plus 10 million. This is called the "Smithers" bonus after the character in the movie.
  • Pressing both thumb buttons right after getting the U-Look-Gr8-2Day gives you a 10 million "Feel Great" bonus ...
  • Sending a ball up the left inlane and into the saucer above it will award the 10 million Huxley bonus
  • Pressing the top button on the right trigger handle will launch the ball into play from the plunger lane.

Demolition Man is a 1993 action/adventure film starring Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, and Sandra Bullock. It was directed by Marco Brambilla based upon a screenplay written by Peter Lenkov and Robert Reneau, produced by Joel Silver, and distributed by Warner Bros. The film is 1 hour and 50 minutes long and is available on VHS and DVD for home viewing. It is also a pretty entertaining film, if you can get past some of the elements that are way over the top.

The plotline itself is pretty straightforward. Simon Phoenix (played way over the top by Wesley Snipes) is a convicted murderer; unfortunately, in the process of bringing him to justice, Detective John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) inadvertently causes the death of a large number of hostages. As a result, both men are subjected to cryogenic inprisonment, meaning that they are both frozen until their sentence is up.

Fast forward forty years to a future that is a seeming utopia: clean, pristine, and free of crime. Simon Phoenix is unfrozen and manages to escape the prison, and the weak police force is unable to deal with him. As a result, the police decide to unfreeze John Spartan to chase him down. Chaos ensues, including fine dining at Taco Bell, a special appearance by Jesse Ventura, the three seashells, radio stations that play nothing but outdated jingles, and an underground resistance force led by Edgar Friendly (played by Denis Leary) who dine on rat-burgers, among other things.

This film often comes off (to me, anyway) as though there were too many good ideas going on, and as a result they got thrown somewhat haphazardly into the film. The setting is extremely well conceived and detailed, so rich that it almost overshadows the primary plotline of the movie (and for me is much more interesting than the main plot). Almost like Josie and the Pussycats, this is one movie with a lot of great stuff going on in the background and just beneath the surface. In fact, it is widely known that the original cut of this film was much, much longer; in order to be palatable to a summer action-adventure crowd, it was stripped down to the bare essentials. It is truly a film that seems simple at first glance, but is quite rewarding if you give it a few watchings.

Aside from the three primary characters (all solidly acted, including Snipes' wildly amusing portrayal of Simon Phoenix), the minor characters are very well acted. Denis Leary stands out as Edgar Friendly, the figurative "man in the middle." Also of note is the always-good Nigel Hawthorne as Dr. Raymond Cocteau (the benevolent leader of the city), and solid performances from Benjamin Bratt, Bob Gunton, and Glenn Shadix.

The unfortunate matter of this film is that the main action plotline often runs roughshod over many aspects of the film that had the potential to be quite entertaining. The "culture shock" aspects are touched upon in a supeficial manner, but it wasn't nearly as detailed or interesting as it could have been. The underlying questions of what exactly it takes to suppress crime and criminal instinct are barely touched on at all, as well as some of the more interesting details of what led society to grow to the point that it did. This is unfortunate, because those elements of the movie were highly entertaining, much more so than the rather standard action/adventure fare that makes up the main story of the movie.

This film received only one award nomination of note, a nomination for the best villain award at the 1994 MTV Movie Awards for Wesley Snipes. It is my feeling that, although much of the underlying film is good, the generic plot stretched on top of the film drove many people away.

The film is available on VHS and DVD, of which I own the latter. The DVD has a nice feature-length commentary from director Marco Brambilla and producer Joel Silver, which is enjoyable, though I get a sense of disappointment from the final product from both of them. Still, this film is well worth viewing, if for nothing but some of the smaller elements of the plot, the setting, and some of the underlying ideas in the film.

One thing I caught long ago is something not many people seem to have noticed. That being the connections between Demolition Man and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.

I wouldn't go so far as to say the movie was based on the book, but it certainly borrows quite a few elements. It has been awhile since I read the book, so bear with me. First and foremost, there's the matter of the revamped, dystopic "society of the future", overflowing with a nauseating amount of political-correctness, and a total lack of extended inter-personal relationships (unlike the book, however, sexuality - even physical contact is almost totally eliminated in the movie, however both the book and movie share the idea of procreation being carried out in a lab). Then of course, there is the unruly group of "savages", outside the reach of the general populace. In the movie, they live underground, while in the book they're placed in reservation-like areas.

More into the specifics, we have someone from the new society (Sandra Bullock's character) befriending someone from the savage society, that of Stallone's character. Even the names of the characters allude to the book. "Lenina Huxley" is a combination of "Lenina Crowne" from the book, and "Aldous Huxley", the author. Then there's the fish-out-of-water character of John Spartan, who doesn't fit into the new society very well. Indeed in the book, the main savage character is named John, and in the movie (twice that I can recall), John is referred to as a "savage" by both Huxley (after propositioning her to have sex the "old fashioned way" - you know, 'Boning', 'The Wild Mambo', 'The Hunka Chunka'), and by Chief George Earle during the "Why don't you shove a leash up my ass" exchange.

Plus, there are the other references scattered throughout, such as the "behavioral engineering", being implanted into the prisoners as a rehabilitation, including the will and desire to carry out whatever task assigned (I'm a seamstress?!), as well as the similarities between Raymond Cocteau and Mustapha Mond. The book's title itself is actually spoken in the movie, by the antagonist "Simon Phoenix". In the scene inside the museum within the excavation exhibit, Phoenix is about to fire up the "ray gun" he got from the armory. Just before he fires the gun, he yells to Spartan "It's a brave new world! Too bad you've gotta go!"

Of course, the movie has a hollywood ending with John and Lenina living happily ever after, with the society forced into a position to make changes. The book, however, ends on a much more sour note, with John killing himself, and the society continuing unchanged.

But like I said, the movie isn't based on the book. More like "lightly inspired by."

Log in or register to write something here or to contact authors.